But I have a question for the Palestinians and their foreign cheerleaders. What if, instead of devoting all of their resources and cash to an effort to turn Gaza into an armed fortress, bristling with thousands of rockets and honeycombed with tunnels and shelters where only Hamas members and their dangerous toys are allowed, the people of Gaza had leaders who had devoted their efforts to improving the lot of the Palestinian people since they took over the strip after Israel’s complete withdrawal in 2005? What if instead of importing missiles and other arms from Iran, Hamas had decided to try to turn their tiny principality into a haven of free enterprise instead of an Islamist tyranny built on hate and which survives on the charity of Israel (yes, Israel, which every day—including when there is fighting going on—sends trucks laden with food and medicine into Gaza to prevent the humanitarian crisis that the Palestinians claim has been happening there from occurring) and the West?

Hamas has sown the wind with its cynical decision to start a war against Israel and the people of Gaza are reaping the whirlwind. Gaza doesn’t have bomb shelters. What it does have is a ruling terrorist movement that uses civilians as human shields. By tolerating such a government and by cheering when their Islamist rulers provoke Israeli counter-attacks by shooting rockets at Israeli civilians, the people of Gaza cannot entirely blame the Jewish state or the world for their fate. But whatever we may think about their decision to accept this situation, the lack of bomb shelters in Gaza should not argue against Israel defending its people.

About the Author:Jonathan S. Tobin is senior online editor of Commentary magazine and chief political blogger at www.commentarymagazine.com. He can be reached via e-mail at jtobin@commentarymagazine.com.

The author's opinion does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Jewish Press.

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Instead of using the aid US sends them to better their peoples lives instead of attacking Israel they continue using the money for instruments of destruction. They don’t have shelters because they love death & use these citizens deaths for propaganda against Israel. Palestinians are so brain washed they actually believe Israel is the source of misery when it’s

WR – The only innocents are Israeli’s in this case. You monkey feces are the ones that started this and then are cowards, using women and children as shields. No, you monkey feces muzzies need to die and be forgotten in history. You monkey feces muzzies wouldn’t even make a footnote.

Jews, no matter where they are, contribute to the good of humanity. Jews have won more Nobel prizes for advancement in technology, medicine, science, the arts than any other people, group or nation. I think Esau and Ishmael are a tad jealous.
If we had depended on the spawn of these two evil men, we would still be living in the Stone Age.
Waseem seems to be unaware that his computer and cell phone were invented, as well as enhanced, by Jews.
All islamists have ever contributed is hate, murder, rape….not only of women and children, but rape of the land.

Ah gee, one would think that the Hama’s with all of his brilliant ideology’s that he would have thought of that–gee whiz. I would like to see the people turn on him. I feel and always feel sorry for the innocent, for the victims of people like Obama, Hamas, Putin etc. its all about money and power and they could care less who they hurt or step on to achieve it. Where they are going in the end doesn’t require a ticket, hell is a free for all.

They don’t give a s T about their people they use them to protect bombs if only they helped w education they want them suppressed and ignorant and filled with hate
Too smart won’t believe the lies they r told

Hamas like that the more their own pweople die, the more support they get for the useful stupid from the West. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Israel left Gaza and Gazians had the option to build a country,, but they choose to continue to attempt to destroy israel.

The Palestinians and Hamas have made many tunnels for their weapons, too bad that they did not have the foresight to dig more tunnels as their shelters. If you are dumb and stupid, then sorry for you. It is not Israel’s job to hand feed her enemy.

The real truth is Hamas (Arabs and Muslims in general) make excuses and apportion blame – they do not look for solutions or self-sufficiency or forward thinking. Nor do they take the blame for anything – their situation is never their fault. The real problem is they embrace a medieval, backward world view. And that is why they embrace violence and false martyrdom.

The real truth is Hamas (Arabs and Muslims in general) make excuses and apportion blame – they do not look for solutions or self-sufficiency or forward thinking. Nor do they take the blame for anything – their situation is never their fault. The real problem is they embrace a medieval, backward world view. And that is why they embrace violence and false martyrdom.

In all the years (and this week it’s exactly 14 years) since our daughter was murdered, we have not found a single Arabic-language post, article, tweet or speech condemning that attack in the center of Jerusalem or the killings.

One of the key talking points by apologists for Hamas in the current conflict is that it isn’t fair that Israelis under fire have bomb shelters while Palestinians in Gaza don’t have any. Among other factors, the lack of shelters accounts in part for the differences in casualty figures between the two peoples. But somehow […]